


hold my body down

by delimeful



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe - Medieval, G/T, Gen, Giants, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 11:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20814764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delimeful/pseuds/delimeful
Summary: Roman and Virgil are a two-person adventuring party stopping in a small barter town for the evening. Roman enters town expecting a night of rest at the inn, perhaps a few interesting stories from the local bard, and exits it as part of a cult-like ritual sacrifice to a silent giant. Then things get strange.





	hold my body down

Roman blinked his way into consciousness, his head throbbing with pain. 

He attempted to reach up to touch his head, assess the damage, but found that his arms were firmly pinned to his sides. Upon looking down, he found that he was bound firmly with rope, enough that his fingertips were going numb. 

He also seemed to be tied to the trunk of a thick sycamore. What had he gotten into last night? He hadn’t woken up in such unexplainable circumstances since the Pilates Incident. 

Roman tried to think back, recounting what he could remember. Him and Virgil had stopped in a little river town for the evening, excited to rest after days spent traveling. He’d gotten caught up in a bard’s tale at the pub next to the inn, and a friendly local had offered him a drink. After that… 

He suddenly remembered the unnatural dizziness that had come over him, how the friendly hands had turned bruising when he tried to back away, getting hit with something blunt and then… darkness. 

Oh, fantastic_,_ he’d been _drugged._

He wasted a few moments wiggling his hands around to try and reach the knives in his boots, before realizing that whoever had left him tied to a tree had taken those as well. Thorough. He was almost impressed.

He cleared his dry throat. “Hello? Anyone there?” 

“Oh, finally awake, Charming?” A dry voice called out from behind him. 

Roman brightened at the sound of his trusty bodyguard. “Virgil!” 

“Shut it!” Virgil snapped, still out of sight. “These ropes are enchanted and those goddamn cultists only just left, so _keep your voice down._”

“Cultists?” Roman responded, voice lowered slightly. “For what purpose?” The ropes around him tugged painfully, but Virgil still answered. 

“Don’t sound so intrigued. I don’t know why, I only just managed to slip out the inn window after I heard the ruckus you were making downstairs. Y’know, getting yourself captured?” 

“I was drugged!” Roman complained, shoulders shrugging as he tried to throw his arms up for emphasis. “We can’t all be vigilant enough to check for poisons every minute.” 

Virgil hissed. “You’re a _prince,_ I’ve had to foil _so many_ assassination attempts, you should know better than- !” 

He cut off suddenly, and Roman waited for the rogue to sigh with irritation, or maybe tug at the ropes again to vent his frustrations, but nothing happened. “Virge?” He asked, visions of the locals sneaking up behind his friend to attack crossing his mind. 

“Shhhh.” Virgil said, suddenly right beside him. “Something’s coming.” 

“Something?” Roman whispered, alarmed. 

“Yeah, did you think they were stringing you up for the birds to eat? Hate to break it to you, but human sacrifices to monstrous creatures is a pretty common tactic of cultists, Princey!” Virgil ranted under his breath, pulling another blade from somewhere on his person to saw at the ropes. 

Sure enough, when Roman strained his ears, he could hear a distant thunder. Whatever was coming, it was big enough to shake the ground beneath them. He was the main hitter of their undersized party, and whatever it was, Virgil couldn’t take it alone. “Virgil, hide!” 

The hooded man spent another second slashing at the ropes before cursing and ducking away. 

Just in time, as only a moment later, the trees in the distance were gently pushed aside to make way for a huge figure. 

“Giant.” Roman breathed, craning his neck to look up and up and up at the creature. “Of course it would be a maneater.” 

Virgil made a small, choked sound from behind the tree. Roman privately agreed, though he kept up a brave face.

The giant was easily taller than any building he’d ever seen, with dark brown hair and handmade glasses sitting atop his nose. He crouched down onto one knee, lowering himself enough that he could properly see Roman, and stared at him with a placid gaze. Roman almost wished there was some hunger or disgust visible, so he’d at least know what to expect. 

“Are you the one for which the cult-like townspeople have left me like this?” He asked, raising his voice slightly. 

The giant stared back, quiet. Roman wondered if he even spoke the same language. He wouldn’t particularly want to learn the language of what he was eating. Of course, he wouldn’t want to eat something that spoke back to him at all. 

“Wh- What are your intentions?” He tried, and then immediately regretted it when the giant reached out with a massive hand. He flinched as it came close, and then his eyes popped open at the sound of tearing. 

The giant was simply shredding through the ropes with one sharp nail, heedless of whatever enchantment had been put on it. Roman was quite suddenly glad Virgil had hid; the rogue’s combat ability was heavily spell-based, and if this giant was resistant or even immune… it would have been a disaster. 

His thoughts were interrupted as he dropped to the ground fully, no longer held up by the ropes. He stumbled slightly, his hands still bound together, and took a step back, looking up at the giant. “Uh, thank yoOOH NO.” 

He attempted to duck away from the hand now descending upon him, but it was a futile motion. Warm, leathery skin wrapped around him, pressing in and stopping his struggles to get away. The hand was big enough to enclose most of his body in the fist, and he felt utterly helpless. “Let me go!” 

Contrary to his demand, the giant lifted him higher, until he was eye level. Roman tried not to look at the dizzying drop below, but the face before him was little comfort. The keen gaze trailed over him, the giant hand opening slightly and fingertips pressing him back against the palm. He felt… assessed. He shivered, twisting to try and get some leverage. “I’m serious, let me down! You can’t just grab people!” 

The giant looked away, dismissively, probably because he knew that he could just grab people, as currently evident by Roman’s inability to stop him. The giant lowered his hand, turning on his heel in a motion that made Roman feel sick. The giant took a step, apparently intending to bring Roman to whatever lair he had come from, and Roman took some solace in at least knowing that Virgil wasn’t in his place. 

“Hey! Stop right there!” A familiar voice yelled, and the giant paused. 

Roman’s stomach dropped. Or not.

Virgil swallowed thickly as the giant’s cold eyes turned to him. He had his dagger out and pointed at the giant, as though it wasn’t smaller than the giant’s smallest fingernail. 

“Virgil, just run!” Roman called, and groaned when the man only answered with a sharp shake of his head. “You stubborn asshole!” 

Virgil ignored him entirely, body tense. “P… Put him down. Or else.” 

The giant sighed through his nose, and then reached down again, making Roman’s heart drop. He yelled a warning, but Virgil was already darting away from the grasping fingers. Silver flashed in Virgil’s hand, and a line of red opened up on the side of the giant’s palm. 

Roman didn’t even get to cheer for first blood, because the hand around him tightened in response to the pain, forcing all the air out of his lungs in a wheeze. 

On the ground, Virgil looked up at him with concern, and the moment of distraction cost him. The giant hand slammed into him, throwing him a few feet forwards and knocking the knife clear from his grip. Virgil scrambled towards it on hands and knees, but before he could get far, the hand settled on him, palm down. Just the weight of it was enough to immobilize Virgil. 

“Wait, _wait!_” Roman cried, terrified that the giant was going to increase the pressure of his hand until Virgil popped like a grape under the force. “Don’t hurt him! Please, I’ll do anything, just let him go!” 

The giant glanced at him for a moment, and then drew his hand upwards, fingers pinching inwards like a hawk’s claw until Virgil’s wriggling form was caught in the bend of his fingers. Roman strained against the ropes binding his hands desperately as Virgil was lifted into the air. “_Please!_” 

This time, the giant didn’t even spare him a glance before he moved both hands to a relatively small pouch on his hip. To them, of course, it was massive, and when he tipped his hands, they both easily slid into the soft fabric, colliding in a corner of the bag. 

The giant began to walk again, long strides that swung the bag back and forth, and Roman cursed as his head collided with what was probably Virgil’s shin. “What were you thinking? I don’t want you stuck here with me!” 

“Oh, I-“ Virgil sucked in air between words, face pale, “I was _not _about to let- my only friend get carried off by a giant- to who knows where- never see you again!” 

Roman felt his eyes grow hot with angry tears, and he kicked out at the flexible wall of the pouch. “This is my fault.” 

“Oh yeah, the- the fucking _giant_ has nothing to do with it.” The rogue pulled out a knife, trying to work it into the huge fibers, but it just slid off the cloth ineffectively. Virgil tugged on his hair, near-hysteric. “What am I doing- even if I got through, we’d just- fall!” 

Virgil’s breathing grew shallower, and he turned to his friend, concerned. “Hey, Virgil? Breath with me, buddy, it’s okay, it’ll be okay-“

“Can’t-“ Virgil choked out, body trembling. “Can’t breathe, I-“ 

He cut himself off with a sob, and the movement around them suddenly paused. Virgil went frozen, locking wide eyes with Roman for a heartbeat.

Without warning, fingers dipped into the pouch again, making both of them scramble to get away. Roman twisted around just in time to see Virgil’s leg get pinched between two fingers, and he lunged for Virgil’s hands. 

They brushed fingertips before Virgil was pulled up and out of reach, and Roman tumbled back to the bottom of the pouch. He shouted wordlessly, terrified for his friend. Why had the giant taken him? Because he was making too much noise by having a panic attack? What was the giant doing to him?

He went dead silent, straining to hear past the rustle of fabric as the giant started moving again. He knew he didn’t want to hear it, whatever fate the giant decided on, didn’t want to hear Virgil scream or sob or go suddenly quiet. Were they just snacks to the giant? Morsels that he could eat if he got peckish along his journey, or if they were too bothersome, too loud in their fear? 

Roman couldn’t hear Virgil’s screams, or the sound of molars grinding down on flesh and bone, but that didn’t really mean anything, did it? Not when the giant’s mouth was easily big enough to fit one of them whole. He shuddered, bile in his throat, and wished again that Virgil had just run, had just left him to the consequences of his idiocy. 

Stuck in his self-loathing, he didn’t realize the pouch was being opened until Virgil was dropped on top of him. He yelped, and then immediately latched onto the rogue like a starfish. “Oh my god, you’re okay, you’re _okay!_” 

Virgil, stunningly, seemed calmer than before, reaching up and hugging Roman firmly for a long second. Roman leaned back. “What did he do? Did he talk to you?” 

Virgil shook his head. “No, it was… he just held me against his chest. All I could hear was just breathing. He didn’t do anything else, he didn’t even look at me.”

“What?” Roman said, and then pressed his forehead against Virgil’s. “Whatever, I don’t even care. I thought-“ His throat closed up.

Virgil patted his back, awkwardly. “There, there. Leave the worrying to me, okay?” 

Roman chuckled weakly, and they fell into a hushed silence. Now that he wasn’t flooded with adrenaline, his headache was pounding a painful rhythm against his skull. His head drooped slightly.

“Go to sleep, Princey.” Virgil said, quiet. “I’ll wake you up if anything changes.” 

He wanted to protest, but he trusted Virgil, and he was truly tired.

When he woke up, it was to Virgil holding a finger to his lips in the sign for quiet. 

“He stopped walking. I think we’re- woah!” Virgil was cut off by the bag around them abruptly shifting in altitude, and then being plopped down on a solid surface. The fabric bunched around them, and they shared a look before the bag opening was pulled open, but not by oversized fingers.

“Hello there!” A very cheery human said with a smile, propping the bag open with both arms. “I’m Patton, and you’re not going to die today!” 


End file.
